Gregory Campbell has said he was being “polite” to President Catherine Connolly, when he publicly confronted her about a speech she made in Derry on Thursday.
It was the President’s first official visit to Northern Ireland since her inauguration and she arrived in Derry to meet the families of those killed on Bloody Sunday and other members of civic society.
Following her speech, in which she praised Derry as a place that “has shown us the path from conflict to peace”, DUP MP Gregory Campbell stepped forward to chat to her.
The East Derry representative told President Connolly that “you’re in our country” and warned her against "rewriting the past".
He also informed her that Northern Ireland would not be leaving the United Kingdom “at any time in the future”.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Campbell said he had also been unhappy that President Connolly had not used the word ‘Londonderry’ at any point to describe the city she was in.
“Yesterday, she came to Londonderry, there was no reference whatever to the name of Londonderry,” he complained.
“There was no reference to the sufferings of the unionist community in Londonderry, but numerous mentions of the sufferings of nationalists.
“I thought that it would have been totally inappropriate not to say anything, to say, ‘Look I think there's a better way of dealing with this.’”
He added that he then, “Just drew attention to the fact that she was in our country this morning and I was going to be in hers tonight”.
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Mr Campbell urged President Connolly to “reflect” on the speech she made and urged her to adopt a “more balanced approach” during future visits to Northern Ireland. He also denied that he had been discourteous to her.
“I think what is the best way to do things like this is for me to politely and courteously point out the imbalance that was contained in her speech,” he said.
“And then hopefully we can renew any relationship in the future and improve that relationship.”
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During the Troubles, many Protestants left the East Bank of the city because of violence and intimidation by the IRA.
They moved to the West Bank of the city and rural villages, all of which had a higher population of Protestants.
Today, there is only one small enclave of working class Protestants on the East Bank of the city, the Fountain Estate.
Pallets placed along the street in readiness for the 11th nigh bonfire in the Fountain Estate, Derry. Picture by: Alamy.com.It is an aspect of the city’s history that Mr Campbell believes deserves more attention.
“There were mentions of the issues, problems and the murder of Catholics on Bloody Sunday and no reference and mention of the same thing that happened to many unionists and Protestants in the same city,” he said.
“Remember, the very location where the speech was made by your President is the West Bank of Londonderry, which is 95% nationalist.
“The reason it's 95% nationalist is because the IRA intimidated and murdered thousands of unionists out of that part of the city and no mention of that - even though she was actually standing on the ground where it happened.”
Overall, Mr Campbell said President Connolly’s visit had an overall “negative” on North-South relations but expressed hope that it could be “improved upon on her next visit”.
Main image: President Catherine Connolly and Democratic Unionist Party MP for East Derry Gregory Campbell. Picture by: Alamy.com.
